The wrong you are.
Wrong.
Hello I'm Brian boring and welcome to part eight of the distinguished lecture
series entitled listening to the prairie this segment features distinguished
lecturer Ed bags Mr Bags hold it agree in animal science from Texas A and M. And N.
And S.
An agricultural education from Tarleton State is the Collin County stage an agent
for agriculture so let's join Mr Bags as he lectures on listening to the prairie
over the roar of urbanization as it says apparently with the Texas corps of
extension service agricultural agent and I do have some natural resources
responsibilities as
a force as concerned also and I am your county extension agent for Collin County
the co-op Extension Service used to be the agricultural East service I remember
that we've been there since nine hundred fourteen and also last year they still
don't change at night. You know go figure I guess that's what they do in college
station so they pass that baton we need to change the night it is I think it was to
get the mindset of our clientele more that we are just more than agricultural I
think to put some of the past mindset from old time with styles cows and plows we
are that term see but now we are getting into more of the natural resource and
urban top programming and those are major issues because that's where most of our
population lives in the state now is in the urban and suburban areas and so that's
we have to we have to change as our client tale changes and so we do move in that
direction in the night Callie does better and work
a little bit better to me in the in the identity of the exchanges force that
clientele is concerned. Our mission of course is to prod the
average teenager cation program service to the people of Texas all of our
educational programs are research based I can't give you my opinion I can tell you
my jokes but I can't give you my personal opinion on certain items it has to be
research based information so that's what we do try to provide you. There you know
I am your agent for calling Candy that is my particular responsibility I do have
state and. National responsibilities but the money part of my work deals directly
here Collin County are taken for granted they are buddies from Collin County so in
every county in fifty four counties state of Texas they all have at least one
extension across the state so we have
a wide variety of very good networking system and we also have access to our
research stations all across the state and college station that their main
responsibility is to support county programs they do some research at the research
stations we also do some research locally here within the county to see how
a certain way that we plan for new G.M.O.
Technology or planning method anything along those lines how it works under under
this certain environment we can do it at the research stations but they they can
duplicate
a lot of things that they can't duplicate everything exactly like it's going to
happen here in Collin County so this we do some of that research there also
a little bit about you know we're going to see you can't say oh yeah we're to get
it as
a. Governor at state grass of Texas so. A little bit about coming
to you for kick this thing off too I know we're getting very organized here we're
about three hundred
a little bit over three hundred fifty five hundred thirty four thousand acres in
Collin County we still have three hundred sixty five three hundred sixty nine
thousand those that are still filed for an agricultural exemption that the column
can and district price will office and that's on record so that tells us that gives
us about sixty five percent of the land area in Collin County is still in some top
agricultural we own
a annual basis average annual basis the last three years we have we use we plan
around harvest forty nine thousand acres we need about thirty five thousand
acres of corn and about of that team thousand acres of sorghum and Milo Now
think about sixty four thousand this is what we use for the last sixty sixty three
thousand to use for forty production in the last stop production last year produce
twenty million dollars in cash receipts produced twenty million dollars last in the
last top production out of that total landmass was one hundred eighty thousand
acres so you see it's
a very diverse and yet all those up those large crops take large areas and large
farmers so that cause as we do that research and kind of think through that process
that tells us that we have
a lot of smaller landowners out there and that's the dream that's going to cross
the host and that'll come my little bit later in this program and so those and
takes is a is all you'll probably are aware of is that is
a privately owned stuff most of the land area in the state is owned by private
landowners so really you have control over your own destiny if the natural
resources are out there and is privately owned land you want to have the control of
it whether stays or goes or gets changed or put himself in the else. With that
moving to the prairie so. This is what the center say when they came across their
vast sea the grasses dug with springs and crossed or streams and rivers this is not
a early sever by the way. But what do the native grass grasses provide for so
aggressively if they are good but if they are as close with that is hard
to tell from those pictures to I call it loose and they will if you go OK.
Well go in the middle of grass that's flat. It's one of these grasses provide force
in
a way yummy when you live in urban ruled suburban It doesn't matter nice crack these
gracious for us can provide anything from
a clean and safe drinking water system to
a site on the grill because it produces tremendous amount of forage also the best
filtration system we have for the waterways our streams our rivers our tanks and
ponds from those overflow when we get the rains we get sediment Washington from the
fields or even from the cities for that goes to some point in time if it has an
opportunity to run through these tall grass Curry's then it is an excellent
filtration system for filtering those sediments going into the the water system not
only the groundwater system but the underground reservoirs it feel trace those to
these these native grasses have
a tremendous root songs the root zone is its to flow to and follow what
a. Stablish piously would be or
a stablished or actually introduce cress whatever title you want to put on it so
that they act and in that method also they can feel trapped very deep they also
open up the soul to create organic matter organic action going on that soloing
incorporate nutrients back into so they serve
a wide variety of per purpose and there are very important to all of us.
Grazing lands single largest land use in the state hundred twenty million acres of
seventy percent of the state still is in grazing lands ninety four million acres in
range land and seventeen million pasture land and grass forces forces are one
million acres so it still nets like what is still
a large area like Langridge that's where we live. So we have one hundred twelve
point six million acres in the black black flame price includes Collin Dallas and
hunt in Ellis' in there to those part of the largest counties that are in black
land curries and we're kind of set right in the heart of it in the widest part of
the black lampreys So it's mainly smooth the black clay is
a predominant sole top through this area very very the grasses are very well
adapted certain type of grasses are very well adapted the native ones to this area
I think is a. Grom
a little blue simply blue stamp is what that was passed native grasses to black for
black lampreys little big in the inside Old style and perennial forks that's what
that was long ago but it's changed what caused all its change I mean it would just
build in the cities and you know people that have places to live we all understand
that we have to work with it live with it in this make sure buddy and stand what
we're doing today that we do need to preserve at some point pass the bill but what
might all this change in the feed them what agriculture had a plot had
a role and exactly. I mean even before the even before agriculture cotton came here
you know cotton can use to be that
a new capital the state. Yeah I'll remember there you know when you're overweight
you should grow more news here I mean other news love this place it was them
believable how can we don't grow and use anymore. Give the labor I can make more
labor building houses you know you can pay somebody ten twelve dollars an hour to
work in
a new field but back then when we were moreover already in top society that was
a that that was
a common thing to work in and we had plenty of them out there and then cotton came
in cotton was
a king when I first came to Collin County over four years ago we were forming
a buyout right at four thousand acres of cotton this year we'll be looking in
twelve hundred we lost two genes in the process in that time and this because of
the the chemical event I mean this can't be all switching over to dry land corn
dryland corn was introduced Collin County ten years ago and it was introduced by
the extension service which is
a known experiment from an agent that was here before me probably biggest
contribution here were made to the agricultural industry in this county which to
get that done it was done through one of these demonstration plots that I was
explaining to you about earlier farmer Celestron is our course not going to be
awareness let's just try to put in demonstration shop do some research and see if
it works to get ran with it the biggest profitable crop in this county DR ALAN
KOHLER Well average one hundred fifty bushels an egg or own corn don't have to have
a dryer let it dry on the stock bring it in I'll have
a field for things more so so where I don't have any experience with the big dryers
we have
a good market whatsoever and prosper over Prosser biggest ag industry across the
proper number of big biology can form. So you can local or
you it. But so that was a ready market for the going to
a lot of these cotton farmers have the switchgear sold off or their cotton
equipment and moved over in switched over to corn they have to diversify some of
the other ones that are just home grown in farm cotton for generations those about
all the ones we've got left in the county but they're really struggling with hardly
a drop in their good folks and we've got to support my work in that chase another
rabbit back to Candy so this is what it wasn't but I wanted answer the question
what may change agriculture
a good answer that is that is one phase of it but as far as national farmers you
know back then we would invite her as came in the juniper is the oaks and homes we
have natural fire by Latin or smokey the buyers who enter the fire got started to
get started with what anybody here to put it out and so it just barn and that kept
the invaders in check and kept by our native grasses predominant and then once we
came in we had a fire took some fire was bad so we had
a fire we put it out and really that's in that was a big That was
a big impact on the prairie lands and in the grasses. Present there again just what
we visited with just our earlier mosquito cam Juniper who say and these are
predominate grasses now that we have in our native grass prices higher ground in
Texas winter buffalo grass there is still some stands out there are blue stems I
had sat on the ground we have seen much of that in the county don't say very well
at all so you know this this what happens the fire the agricultural and also our
stock you know you can lump that in the average cost of
a leg said Dr Glass stock is the is. Hinders the native grass
production very much if you don't have
a good grazing management point and it will hinder the growth of the native grasses
dramatically. Impact the range land economic sectors state of
stability. In the stay using the range land or outdoor recreational
activity which is is is is tied to the grasslands brings in
approximately and I'm not don't quote me on this brings in approximately seventy
million a year just for outdoor activities so it is an economic impact we talked
a little bit about our water quality and quantity it does act as
a best filtration system we've got there most economical to use force filtering the
settlements that their water is going to be
a big issue in the state I think everybody is or is aware that going to be
a tremendous issue when you're a farmer rancher land owner not
a land owner living apartment it doesn't matter somehow it's going to trickle down
effect it's going to affect you because if you work for corporations they're not
going to be able to expand because they're not going to be there's not going to be
enough water to support a growth in population or industry that is going to be
a very limited resource in the in the very near future and it's going to limit it
so if your can somebody that for
a grocery chain and they depend on expansion to keep you working in the people
aren't moving in then you're stuck you're kind of there so it's going to be a it's
a very limiting factor watery as and so these these range lands can help us improve
the quantity and quality of the water of course while our population I think that's
a given it's home to very many vertebrae in birds deer and such and that's also an
economic impact force recreation is concerned. Recreation we still have
social needs oversight that's kind of the ties in also with the. Recreation
in we like to have been a five states this is B.
And native Texans and the important nature takes is kind of got that image about
him so you know that relates to this when you think about Texas as kind of what you
what what comes to mind water quality and supply we already visited produce erosion
reduce pollution and capture runoff and sediment there's
a very good job at that and these pastures and waterways and in around times we've
done some test will we have done that factor in the process of doing one right now
I was over there for came over here seeing how we're coming along and I'll touch
base on it with later planning grasses around the stock tanks these these native
grasses and doing the comparison of not planting them and versus plant them and
then do some test down if it's
a very basically sought after rainfall and you can see the difference. Future
Texas where we are an urban society but we all want to rule our style certainly
nothing wrong with that nothing wrong with it at all. Folks move to Collin County
and come out and buy. You know ten fifteen twenty acres maybe in five acres and
that's OK in the work in Dallas certainly nothing wrong with that but they want
that real law style and if there's some native grasses out there and they want to
stablish some type of grass you know we can encourage them to do that and show them
the benefits and help them get that done the proper planning methods. To farms and
ranches relation five hundred acres that's across the state that's
a growing tree and that's not going that's not going to go another way so that
that's another reason black claim preys are now less than one percent in tall
grasses the smaller acreage is tea into. That's the population chart
when you doing the smaller acreage is it seem like the smaller it is the more
livestock they want to run on it I mean it's hard to if when they see the grasses
after is this tall the and then they triple the stocking right that they're really
supposed to on those grasses and then they get them graze down in that. Deters the
root growth and now our plants pretty much done coming now we're going to go into
reverse on our plants and so it's hard to without doing some age acacia and in some
visiting with them and in some some data collecting it's hard to get that across
from but it is very detrimental You can see where we've gone from one thousand nine
hundred to the year two thousand and four so this is across state cross as far as
our Britain rule is concerned very big increase and so they have what happens is
the larger farmers. The cotton farmers or any farmers force that concern it's it's
very difficult to make
a living in the agricultural field I mean one hundred percent living and keep
groceries on the table keep shoes on the kids for the especially the new form will
come out if you're so to print in the home environment in the market in you're not
getting the subsidies that you are that the side of the people are overseas and so
you can be competitive in the marketplace when they get subsidized and we're not so
if you're
a bargain to buy the cheapest grain you can if it's the same qualities so they can
produce it a lot cheaper so
a little lot cheaper over there do those subsidies so that's that's another deal
with the farm bill in relation to they asked
a lot eighteen I said well I got to be
a lot eighteen to it so what happens is he's already farmers have
a large tracts of land and they found it more profitable economical for them to
sell it off in smaller trucks in the USA have to go for survival so they smell so
often smaller tracks for whatever reason and this is kind of an example of one and
then it goes in to this. Then you can see it as you present fighting in the still
some grasses out there and still that's OK You know the farmers there again he has
to make
a living if you can't make it off the land then you're going to have to do something
so you seem to lots of it turns into this but this is also kind of
a good example to show you can have a I don't know was
a house that looks like your house Tom was it cost. Very expensive asthmatic in the
agent's half I think that's. So but you can so you can have
a mass home like I do my driveway
a little different I don't know but you can so you can have
a very nice house out there when. The holder is that
a mass lock that lank this group probably does like that landscape if the bottom
a bit and you know I don't need a lot more after i don't have
a water on it fertilize it you know the grasshoppers coming in well you know how
much I can do better so you know that to me I lacked that as this has. Admittedly
I'd leave it like that might be my driveway
a little bit some Alaska my kids maybe could roller skate or some affection over in
areas where he talked about the watersheds watersheds during from north west to
south to Southwest in the basins here the rain the true the rivers the more
grasslands we can feel for that water through before you stand us better off we're
going to bleed when it gets down to like
a lot like Lavon has is being tested last year and also this year do.
We're not in an unsafe zone but we could be getting close if we're not careful so I
think this could be in important aspect of that as far as. Anybody up stream from
us using the stack grasses naturally to help us alleviate that problem at freezing
does not break down in the water very readily and it doesn't bond to the soul so
therefore it is cotton runoff and sediment and apparently didn't run through the
grasses either. Because the grasses could help us with that. Very widely used
product in the agricultural industry and also in some of the tar press in the
streets to you know we can't blame this all on the producers folks I mean yes there
are users of it but they're not going to be their users with the not abuse or
something because the money's coming out of their pockets they're barely making it
anyway so they're not going to put even more herbicides out there that they need
that just to do the job they're very conservative on and also time an application
in their very well restricted also in control but proper grazing management
we just livid about that produces more grass. Talk about
a little examples of animal units we try to educate people on what animal units are
that's kind of how we forgive them when we do
a stocking right is. This how much they don't monthly in a yearly basis so say
a horse is pretty good job either twelve hundred pounds on
a yearly basis and that's that's the sum average one point two five animal units so
if you've got to get two actors out there five horses what's going to happen and
you've pretty much done you know you my live real good right now what about year to
year max and that is under ideal conditions this is going to look like another
picture coming out and I'm going to get horses own horses I love orses but they
need to be mange we've got to remember the grass managers are really not last stop
for the service this is how growth the grazing affects growth that there's some I
didn't learn in this some they did teach me but best of all foamy isn't anybody can
remember this is tight half leave half. If you will take half and leave half of it
bare and that'll really still sustain that root system so that plant can provide
will grow regrow itself to come back to work needs to be to to produce C.
And re germinate but if you start getting blow that have stage you're really
starting to handle that root production now we've got to refine going in reverse
and it's going to be really tough for the native grasses of course respond to that
very heavily I mean in grazing what's the risk when grazing
a moment is still cutting it off aren't you still gone the only big difference is
that you might get some recycling out of the out of the last stock you know but you
know. It's amazing you drive and I've done it in Callan can drive down the cannery
else what can the east coast do drive them can't really drive I like them that. We
judge them the county road and say gal don't rush out and get some little Lucy I'm
up here about waist and he's on that brush I want to use a hack and
a light pullover saw you have. No Nobel clue that you know put some last stop on
their suffering the least ration Moeller up to eighteen inches if you're going to
cut it off like so it has the same effect this long we take that top that top rope
welfare of the next going to effect
a bottom row for that that's going to affect it coming back. Past the rotation this
was hidden if you rotate it off are properly tight halfway you have it's going to
come back and read your mind I can do still going to maintain
a good stand you're going to get all those benefits to go along with it that's what
I have and if you don't raise. The going to come back in my comeback was going to
lean Juniper's and pretty pardon or something else it's not going to come back
native grasses I think is pretty much done and that's kind of what happens. Everest
MacSpeech And what we're doing here day public awareness is some kind tailed and
educational programs conducting research and such collaboration with other agencies
like they were in our midst and with their leader today do some things together in
you know we really encourage that and we can do better job to get to them we can
separately and we have to give you an unbiased approach we have to just mandate in
our ethics. And I came to you my personal opinion or anybody else's I have that tab
approach some of the things that we're all working on in our urban areas for as
a native grasses in conserving natural resources I told you I was in a chicken on
a research plot we're going over chase Oaks golf course it's right down the road I
went over there for I came here today checking on the we might see more of this
type of aspect in kind of what's going on the been
a face from it not only for the public of Collin County but also them as
a golf course managers and owners around their ponds. Thirty six hole golf course
they've got eighteen of shut them redoing the whole thing so we're encouraging them
they're going to go forward with it if our demonstration shows successful and has
a lot of challenges to so successful this year than the build might get over
a broad base over the whole golf course he's
a native grasses around their ponds and along that creek bottom right now they're
in their improved pasture they're all the meat of grasses course they've got
a moat fertiliser herbicide to keep it looking nice for the golfers. We encourage
them children benefits of the native grasses for filtration flood control and
you've got to use different types you know Eastern grammar down in the bottom
little blue stem upon the top in Bagram and in their different places and the big
challenge is to get that established and still keep the erosion intact because
their own very slow be areas going into those times. And we think we can work
through that they've agreed to
a course they have to furnish the experience which is far safer teas and consulting
. And so we'll work through that. And it'll move forward and I think it'll be very
successful and it's not the first golf course in the county that up of consulted
own native grasses the new one going on prosper by
a golfer. When
I feel my. Consulting I'll never be
a wyvern golf course put in that will prosper all of the worry of I don't think
it's open yet started on
a year before last and they came in and said hey we want to we want to bring this
back is much negative is we can get down fertilizer because stand on the herbicide
cost cuts down their labor from owing very little mites to it so. Unfortunately
they called me after that already plowed up the whole everything and got it all
laid out but that's OK You know these of contract companies to go around architect
companies that build these golf courses and they finish this when they move on to
another one so they're not local and they don't know exactly what grasses are
native to this to call in can
a black claim and which one are going to work best in what situation was sold so I
go out there and consult them and help them help them do that and in very glad to I
think it's
a great step forward and I just found snowball. In some of the other ones are
really picking up on it the beach would open for timber on a lot of
a lot of nice beautiful I mean
a lot of native grasses out there and it's just beautiful so if and that's going to
be
a way the future when our water we talk about our water resources is going to be one
of our. One of our resources that are not only available to us limiting resource
was the first one we're going to go. Somebody's home use it and hopefully would
still get it or probably recreation probably limited monitoring reparation water
coming I don't know that for
a fact but I think in the start from the bottom and work up in this which one is
the most mandated which one is going to maintain last quality and he's probably
going to start reparations off like
a lot of these golf courses are kind of picking that up based in Texas and saying
you know we are going to have to cut back somehow working we do the native grasses
fits in there perfect I mean just perfect and so we're excited about going forward
that new water line going through the Can anybody got that going through their
backyard and what you're seeing is right.
When it runs all across Canada I mean just line straight across right over the.
Huge And we it's pretty big Tom Tom there is
a big pot always crossed one of the one of the deals is with people that put in
that plan that when the contract states that whatever ground that they tear up
through there they're going this will
a spec quite extension is is doing to promote these native grasses. It has your
back they do the best they can to put that back in the same vegetation it was
before they dug that hole but these guys they're going to contractors you know
they're popular that they're not agronomists or not or core choice in there sure or
not they don't know. On that back alley don't know what grazing they can about
there when you put that pop in the ground so they called me and said Would you help
us some of these grasses and help us establish some back like they warned us to be
more happy to so us do something else we do work there to try to get these things
back in it's it's great these large corporations are making that effort and have
that concern to do that so we can work our work towards that direction so everybody
benefits from it what can you do well. To get a lot. Yeah you can use
a native grasses and landscape certainly nothing wrong with that I would support
over installations like myself sport those organizations didn't have to be monetary
or. If you have questions with them or have concerns or or might help and volunteer
wise what are the need maybe just support those organizations like they've sold
here there's
a tremendous organization there. Conservation easements is going
to talk about that. There is there are conservation easements if you can use and I
believe that you can also get the exemption for those you get the agricultural
exemption for conservation easement tremendous asset on preserving some of these
areas and they going to go into a lot more detail map and the state planning
a lot of even though you're you might be
a property owner might not but if you do become wonder or maybe know someone that
is through these estate plan and you believe that stuff in writing on how that
property supposed to be used how that has exposed to be preserved. You can put
those in your in your state. Mandated exactly how that that would happen if you had
you know put a hundred acres in for instance
a native grass and you left it to you because and he said of the two McDonnell's
Well let's not going to preserve much but you can put those stipulations on how
that property supposed to be using your estate plan.
Question. There's
a First off when you want to purchase native grasses or plough terrible you want to
do it you want to get to the closest nursery or supplier that it's grown or
harvested to you because that's going on like more babble to your Vironment the one
even Oklahoma I have all that information that there is really only to disclose
when they call home one morning. Those are the two closer sources.
Well I mean yeah closeness to. Our wrist in. Our
Sensei's not a big. Now that there's just not
a huge market out there for it but you have to be careful because some of it's you
just bought from
a supplier it could be shipped in most anywhere you don't know where it's origin
yes you need to really be aware of the origin and find out exactly what's coming
from you know if there's
a place closure that's Courtney's you need it's made. It's
great. To get there doesn't get
together afterwards. That she has
a source locally but you probably couldn't get quantities there back to how we want
to do five hundred acres. So landscaping Yes I think they'd be
a great resource for links like skating purposes. We tend to work on
a little bit larger scale and so what we can on the team and also what we get
a lot of those seeds in Already we're getting rabbits again we get
a lot of that mean I gotta quit now. But. We get in situations where we would like
eastern grammar grass we like to getting it in so already so been sitting there for
three or four days in water ready to go so we get it if we're not ready go right
into the ground would put it in the fridge right or bring it out we get
a real fast germination Alpha out of it because when we go to put in the C.B.S.
We get everything ready and we want to go with it quick our window is very small we
get those in still because we want to be as successful as we can specially on
demonstrations so we try to just not a barrage cross every T.
And make sure flames just drop so the timing coming in on the C R C purple ration
in some ways this would only have
a seabed where over seed and then we get to do some other methods to accomplish lad
to hold back the competition. During that seeding process so that you can get many
different ways in sandwich with that that's a great source like
a man. Best of Texas productive range lands wildlife clear strange native plants no
steady you can't get any better now today if I go to heaven that's what it bigger
out there all those things listed. And like I have cattle at there is
a harvesting tool nothing wrong with that as yet grass is no were grazing and you
can tail and maintain that very well get
a good water supply back there for. Wildlife perfect home environment
for also can be no source of income
and here is an example of some of those native grasses planted around
a stop on field trotting out settlements not only sole but in other type of
materials that are would be in runoff going into the pond that these grasses food
would filter those out going as mass. Crystal water
and elderly people stay consolation conservation is keeping the resources in
working order as well as preventing overuse I think that's
a good statement for all of us to keep in mind as we can thank for this I thank you
for being this afternoon here. The BE. The
beginning
of the
book
.